Could my acne be related to my IBS?

[Sazzle1109]

I've stopped drinking milk as I've heard this isn't good for the stomach or skin and now drink soya and coconut/rice milk. I've also cut out eating wholemeal bread and I'm eating soya and linseed-just eaten a banana which had just caused a flare up. I'm new to all this as I was kinda healthy up to Christmas/Jan and then I started getting horrific spots and extreme thinning of the hair and was diagnosed with a heart murmur-I've only just turned 35 so I'm not exactly old and have also lost just over 2.5 stone. Any advice is greatly received.x

[Ibsr]

Absolutely, if you're not digesting foods well than the toxics accumulate and show on the skin. Are you getting breakouts on any particular part of the face? Eg chin?

You say you're eating soya and linseed bread? Are you sure that doesn't have wheat in it? I've never seen one of those without wheat.

Sounds like you have not tried the FODMAP diet? Maybe look into that? Search 'Monash FODMAP' for more info.

Are you eating foods with sugar..eg cookies or any other processed foods?

I found my skin improved on FODMAP and than dramatically improved when I cut out sugar and GF breads in particular.

You might also want to keep an eye on your soya intake...it is known to mess up the hormonal system of the body and that could be adding to the bad skin issue too.

Good luck

[Sazzle1109 in reply to Ibsr]

Thank you for replying!

Oh really I had no idea about the soya messing up my hormones-just found that it didn't kill me once I'd eaten it like the wholemeal breads. I literally just get the spots on my chin-not in the centre but just on the outer parts and around my nose. Lots of little white pimples which are red raw then huge patches of dry sore patches. I don't know anything about IBS apart from the Buscapan tablets helped hugely.

I do slimming world so I have an extremely healthy varied diet. What is FODMAP? I've recently been diagnosed with a heart murmur and my Drs are just bothered with that-not my bad skin and hair loss and I've not even mentioned my IBS to them as they just don't seem to take me seriously! I was resemble healthy up till Xmas-I just don't know what happened?!

[Ibsr]

FODMAP is a low carb diet that cuts out a lot of inflammatory causing foods. It will improve your digestion, your skin, your moods and most probably help you to loose weight.

You could ask your Dra to get you tested for fructose malabsorption via a Hydrogen Breath Test...prob have to get your GP to refer you to a gastro to get that done.

Sometimes our bodies get overloaded with stuff that it can't handle anymore so things get out of synch. Just be patient, I am sure you'll find something that helps soon.